Missouri Department of Corrections

The Missouri Department of Corrections is the law enforcement department controlling state prisons in Missouri. Its headquarters are in the capital city of Jefferson City. The Missouri Department of Corrections has 21 facilities statewide, including 2 community release centers. More than 11,000 employees are in the DOC; most are certified correction and probation officers. The department has K9 units statewide that track escapees and criminals who have fled from law enforcement.

Missouri is a death penalty state, and the Potosi Correctional Center and Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center (ERDCC) have male death rows. The Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic, and Correctional Center houses the female death row. The ERDCC houses the execution chamber.

Missouri has a population of over 6 million, and the elected officer responsible for the prison is the Governor of Missouri, Mike Parson. Seven officers involved with the prison system died on the job because of assault and stabbing. The state has a combined prisoner population in of approximately 24,000. The jail system sees at least 128,000 different people who are booked and released on a rotating basis. Missouri’s operation facilities have a budget of $790,065,730.
Missouri claims that more than 95 percent of the people who enter the prison system are ultimately released. The staff tries to educate and rehabilitate these offenders so they would return to society and be good neighbors.

Inmate and Jail Roster Search

The search tool at web.mo.gov gives you a listing of the inmates with the name you specified. You must look through the roster to find the inmate you want. The information that populates is:

DOC ID Last Name First name DOB Race Hgt Wgt Sex
12345 Jones David 09/1973 B 5’8” 195 M

Click on the DOC ID to see the mug shot and all the information, including hair and eye colors.

Additional information:

• Assigned Location District EP Probation & Parole
• Address 220 S. Jefferson St. St. Louis MO 63103
• Sentence Summary 20 years
• Active Offenses Statutory Sodomy
• Completed Offenses Attempted Statutory Rape
• Aliases Davy, Danny, Daniel Jones

Visitation Guidelines and Hours

Visitation guidelines vary depending on the prison you are visiting. For example, the Farmington Correctional Center at 1012 West Columbia Street, Farmington, MO 63640 Phone 573-218-7100, allows visits as follows:
Open Friday through Saturday at:
9:30 am – 1:30 pm
2:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Sunday at:
9:30 am – 1:30 pm
2:30 pm – 6:30 pm
1st and 3rd Afternoon Food Visits
2nd and 4th afternoon – treatment offenders only

Other facilities in Missouri have similar visiting hours. Ensure you contact the correct prison where your inmate is housed for the correct listing.

You must be pre-approved to visit. Complete the visiting application thoroughly and use the instructions provided on the form. A criminal history check will be conducted. Failure to be transparent will result in denial of visiting privileges. You can find the application on the doc.mo.gov website.

Those who can apply for visitation privileges are immediate family, extended family, friends, and clergy. The offender must inform his family and friends if they have been approved.

You must also call the facility to determine if video visits are permitted.
Visitors can arrive at the facility 30 minutes before the scheduled visit. You will need to have a valid photo ID. This includes visitors aged 13-18. They can use a current school photo ID card that includes their name. Or you can use a valid federal or state government-issued ID card.

An authorized adult must accompany visitors under 18.

Your packages, children, and vehicles will be searched when you enter the grounds. You will need to go through a metal detector. You will also need to wipe down your shirt front, pockets, and palms of your hands. The towelette is placed in a machine to detect traces of narcotics or explosives.

You may enter the facility with coins in a clear bag for use in vending machines and specific medical supplies (notify the facility beforehand if you need to bring in medications.)

You may NOT wear tight or excessively baggy clothing, gang racial inappropriate or inflammatory language or symbols, camouflage designs, any item that is short than the top of the knee cap, holes or slits in pants, shirts, blouses, or tops that do not cover cleavage, chest, back, and stomach or are sleeveless.

Phone Calls
Phone calls cannot be made to an offender, but the offender can only call out using these methods:

• Debit card calls.
• Collect calls or prepaid calls.
• Offender computer tablets.

To make a call, the offender must use a personal identification number or PIN in an automated security system. The offender may place a call by purchasing debit minutes in the canteen, from a kiosk, or an account set up through Securus. All offender phone calls are monitored.

If you receive unwanted phone calls from an offender, follow the prompts on your phone to block future calls. If you continue receiving calls, contact the institution and provide as much information as possible. If the offender continues to contact you, the offender may receive disciplinary action.

Mail

Offenders can send and receive email through computer tablets. You will need to have the inmate let you know the parameters.
All mail sent to an offender is scanned and delivered electronically. When you write a letter, use the following address:

Offender Name and DOC ID#
C/00 Digital Mail Center- Missouri DOC
PO box 25678
Tampa, FL 33622-5678
You will also need a return address:
Sender Full Name
Address
City, State Zip Code

Once mail is received at the Digital Mail Center, it will be digitally scanned and made available on the offender’s media player. Offenders who do not have access to a tablet will have mail scanned, printed, and delivered to the recipient. Mail cannot exceed 10 items per envelope, and pages should be numbered. Mail should contain only items that can be scanned. Items that cannot be scanned may be returned to the sender. Mail that sits in the digital mail center for 45 calendar days will be discarded.

You must write your letter in blue or black ink, and certified mail must be pre-approved by the offender’s case manager. No personal correspondence will be accepted by certified mail. All publications to the offender must be sent directly from a publisher, distributor, or other bona fide vendor. You may not send greetings, birthday, or holiday cards.

All incoming and outgoing mail is subject to search and examination for unauthorized articles of substances. The following cannot go through the mail:

• Unsanitary mail
• Mail with labels, stickers, or stamps.
• Felt tip pens, glitter pens, markers, paint, or ink that bleeds through the paper.
• Mail containing messages for other offenders.
• Photos
• Altered pictures.
• Collages
• Catalogs and calendars
• No food, clothing, cash, money orders, checks, stamps.

Mail that is rejected will be returned to the sender or destroyed.

If any rules are violated, mail services may be suspended. If you receive unwelcome mail or a threatening letter from an offender, notify the institution in write and include a copy. The offender will be directed to stop writing to you. If the behavior continues, notify the institution again, and the offender will be referred for disciplinary action.

Every offender has an account for personal funds that can be used to purchase phone time, clothing items, legal or writing supplies, small appliances, hygiene items, and snacks. These are specific ways for depositing funds to an offender’s account.
Electronic transfer through JPay

Money orders or cashier’s checks can be used to give money to an inmate. It must be made payable to the Missouri Department of Corrections and accompanied by a Department of Corrections deposit slip. Offenders have access to deposit forms. Forward transitions to the following address:

Offender Finance Office
Missouri Department of Corrections
PO Box 1609
Jefferson City, MO 65102

Make sure the deposit slip is filled out in black or blue ink. If you have questions, call the Offender Finance Office at 573-526-6445.
Offenders can check the amount of money in their accounts at kiosks located inside the facility.

Inmate Records

You can find inmate records on Offender Search. You will need to input the characters in the box, hit search, and be taken to a form that requires either the offender number or the first and last name.

You will receive records with the following information:

DOC ID Last Name First Name DOB Race Hgt Wgt Sex
12345 Ripley David 01/01/1972 B 6’0” 260 M
Click on the offender number, and the following information will populate.

Mugshot
DOC ID 2345
Name Ripley, David
Race Black
Sex Male
DOB 01/01/1972
Height/Weight 6’0”/260
Hair/Eyes Black/Brown
Assigned Locations District 03 Probation & Parole – CSC
Address 2002 Warren Barrett Drive, Hannibal 63401
Assigned Officer Mary Jones
Sentence Summary 10 years
Active Offenses ASSAULT 1ST DEGREE OR ATTEMPT
Completed Offenses No completed offenses.
Aliases John Ripley, George Johns

You will only receive general search information. Specific questions must be addressed to the institution, caseworker, or the Probation and Parole field officer.
Interesting to Note:

Puppies for Parole is set up through partnerships with animal shelters and animal advocate groups statewide. Selected residents in Missouri prisons can become trains to rescue dogs. Resident tech dogs basic obedience skills and socialize with them, making them adoptable. Once the dogs have completed the program, they are adopted through their original shelters. The program teaches vocational skills and responsibility, allowing offenders to learn altruistic behaviors.

Booking Procedures

After an arrest, a criminal suspect is taken into police custody and processed. A general overview of this process includes:

• Gathering person information
• Fingerprints
• Photography (mugshots)
• Searches of the arrestee
• Recording information about the crime
• Performing a criminal record search
• Confiscating any personal property carried by the suspect.
• Health Check

Placing the suspect in a police station holding cell or local jail for arraignment.

Note that individuals arrested for minor offenses may be released after signing a citation. This is a document that the arrestee promises to appear for later court dates, including a preliminary hearing. The booking process creates an official arrest record.
A suspect can obtain a pre-trial release by posting a bail bond or own recognizance release unless charged with a serious crime.
The bail bondsman may agree to cover the remaining amount if a defendant or their family cannot secure the full bail amount.

Consult an experienced criminal defense attorney to help you negotiate the terms of your release, challenge probable causes and unlawful arrests, and provide guidance on criminal procedure, including expungement.

Mugshots

Mugshots are always taken and become part of the offender’s arrest records. Front and side views are taken, and these mugshots can be seen online or at the prison or jail.

Missouri

Missouri is located in the Midwestern region of the U.S. It ranks 21st in land area and is named after the Missouri River. Missouri has over six million residents, making it the 18th most populated state. The capital is Jefferson City, and the largest city is St. Louis. Missouri is the birthplace of ragtime, Kansas City Jazz, and St. Louis blues. It is well-known that Kansas City-style barbecue is the best in the nation. Missouri has some of the most permissive alcohol laws in the U.S.

Missouri is known as the Gateway to the West since it was a significant departure point for expeditions heading to the West during the 19th century.

Today, Missouri is known for tourism, Gateway Arch I St. Louis, the Ozark National Scenic Riverways and Meramec Caverns in Stanton. Missouri produces the most lead of all states and ranks first in the production of lime, an ingredient in cement.
A crime occurs every 1 minute – on average – in Missouri. Violent crime and property crime get a D grade. Missouri’s crime rate is slightly higher than the average US state. It is in the 35th percentile for safety, meaning that 65% or the states are safer and 35% of states are more dangerous. The rate of crime in Missouri is 53 per 1,000 residents.